How many of you remember the Height of the cold war - the period when Russia had superior rocket technology, but the US had bigger H-Bombs?
At this time the Us always had B52 bombers, loaded with massive H-Bombs, constantly in the air. Some of these flights were refueled by flying tankers, based in Spain, but on January 17th, 1966, a B52 and a tanker collided, and four H-bombs landed on the town of Palomares, a town which I can see further round the bay where I live.
There was a massive, top secret, clean-up operation started, and 3 of the bombs were recovered, although on had scattered plutonium over a wide area and to this day it has not all been recovered.
However, the fourth bomb fell into the sea, and the recovery operation was desperate.
A friend of mine (This area is full of surprising people) called Christopher Morris, who was a free-lance reporter based in Madrid, heard about it and investigated, then broke the news to the world via the BBC. He then wrote a book about it.
Here are photos of the cover and the two inside flaps.
8
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4 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I remember the incident well, yes. Those were tense times.
evidentialist
Level 8
June 13, 2018
1
This is a good, well balanced book.
The US has dropped nuclear bombs on its own soil at least twice. Once in 1958 in North Carolina and again in 1961 in South Carolina.
Surfpirate
Level 9
June 12, 2018
2
There have been many, including one in the arctic circle. For a full listing look up "US Broken Arrows" on the internet. This book is fascinating not because of the collision and bombs being dropped, but because of the frantic search of the floor of the Mediterranean sea for the fourth bomb. The USA even had to admit to owning a top secret, remote submarine that the Russians ha never suspected could exist. Remember, this was all in the days of far lower technology than today.
The book is out of print, but you can buy used copies via Amazon.
Here's his impressive Wikipedia entry.
[en.wikipedia.org]
Petter
Level 9
June 12, 2018
1
Fascinating. He must keep you on the edge of your seat with some of his anecdotes from such a full life.
@FrayedBear This area is full of retired high achievers - but modest ones. Many owned their own companies or were world champions or TV celebrities - but you only find out by accident, usually whilst having a conversation over a drink or ten. It also has more than its share of intelligent drop-outs.
I remember one evening, about 25 years ago, dining out with my mother and a friend of hers, who was an MI5 agent I first met when in my teens. Also in the same dining room was an ex member of the Rhodesian secret police, and his wife, an ex-member of the Kenya intelligence forces, who had gone to the same primary school as me. Across the way was an ex-British CID boss and everyone was being served food cooked by a man whose job had been to fly secret spy planes over Russia for the British. I was the only person in the room who knew the past activities of every single one. (Partly thanks to being the boss of a magazine, but also because of my childhood.)
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